Display system customers, especially customers for aircraft display systems, frequently desire display systems with screens that have irregular sizes and shapes, while still providing the biggest possible screen. In some cases, rear projection display systems have been used to satisfy the demand for screens with irregular sizes and shapes. Unlike direct view display systems, rear projection display systems typically have an entirely passive diffuser screen, upon which the image is viewed, and due to being passive, it can be made in any shape. Additionally, rear projection displays may use multiple image sources or projectors to create one big display image across an entire flight deck. However, rear projection displays often do not meet optical performance requirements of aircraft display systems.
Some current active display screens, such as those in traditional direct view display systems, comprise display elements, such as liquid crystal displays (LCDs) and organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) that meet the optical performance requirements of aircraft display systems. However, current active display screens are generally confined to rectangular shapes in order to accommodate the power and electronic control signals required by each display elements. Attempts to generate a LCD or an OLED with a non-rectangular shape have so far been economically unfeasible for many applications, especially those requiring low to moderate quantities of displays.
Accordingly, a hybrid projection display system that provides image quality superior to that of a traditional projection display system while flexibly supporting arbitrary screen sizes and non-planar screen surfaces as in a rear projection display system is desired. The present invention provides the desired features.